AROUND THE NATION

Bill to cut foreign student assistance advances in Florida
(U-WIRE) TALAHASSE, Fla. – A bill to ban the state of Florida from giving financial assistance to students who are citizens of countries on the U.S. State Department’s list of countries considered to be sponsors of terrorism passed the state House Education committee last Monday.

The sponsor of the bill, state Rep. Dick Kravitz (R-Orange Park) said he drafted the bill to reduce the threat of terrorism. If adopted, the bill will cancel financial assistance – scholarships, fellowships, grants, loans and tuition fee waivers – for several hundred students from across Florida.

The most recent statistics available from the Florida Department of Education, from fall 2002, show 644 students from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Cuba, North Korea and the Sudan were enrolled at Florida universities and community colleges, and received $375,618 in state financial assistance during last semester.

Kravitz said his bill would not ban these students from receiving an education but would only ban Florida taxpayers from giving them financial assistance.-FSView & Florida Flambeau (Florida State U.)

College press claims victory with court ruling
(U-WIRE) DEKALB, Ill. – In a victory for public college and university newspapers, the U.S. Court of Appeals decided administrators cannot censor student-run newspapers.

The case arose in 2001 when editors of the Innovator, Governors State University’s student newspaper, sued the dean of student affairs Patricia Carter for censoring the newspaper.

The decision, which wasn’t expected until mid-summer, does not support the state of Illinois’ request to apply a ruling in a similar case involving high school publications.

In 1988 the U.S. Supreme Court granted administrators the authority to censor high school-sponsored newspapers. The state of Illinois wants the decision to be applied to public college and university students, but has been unsuccessful so far.

In its ruling, the Court said, “… rationale for limiting the First Amendment rights of high school journalism students is not a good fit for students at colleges or universities.”-Northern Star (Northern Illinois U.)

‘Beef’ stickers show students aren’t chicken at U. Maryland
(U-WIRE) COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Quarter-sized, neon-orange stickers proclaiming “Beef” have been popping up all over the University of Maryland campus since mid-February.

What started as a joke between friends has spread across the university as a way to remind the community that some students have a “beef” with the school.

“My group of friends has always been screwed by the university, so when something would happen, we’d put a sticker on the office,” said junior James Nicoll, who started ProjectBeef.com.

The stickers spread outside the friends when they started putting them on the offices of departments they felt had done something wrong. As of Thursday, the Web site listed more than 190 places on and off the campus that have stickers. The list includes 32 residence halls and more than 40 academic buildings. One sticker is as far away as a Holiday Inn in Marietta, Ga. Another is on a New York University dormitory.-The Diamondback (U-Maryland)

We have all been forced to down a family member’s greasy and lackluster casserole with a smile on our face. But this Thanksgiving, you can rethink the staple and enjoy a dish with a crunch that goes unmatched.